Unknown Fear
by Jenni N
Summary: We fear the unknown.
1. Schloss

_The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is the fear of the unknown._

_- H.P Lovecraft_

* * *

If there was one thing Italy didn't like, it would have to be cold pasta.

Or a cold bed. Either one.

Unfortunately for Italy, his pasta had gone cold when he was out with Germany and Japan earlier that day. Coming home from a day's workout training, strictly designed by Germany to keep them in tip-top shape, Italy craved for his beloved meal. Running away-away? Italy preferred the term 'ahead'-from Germany was tough work, even if he did happen to get away far enough to rest for a few minutes.

Italy poked his fork at his pasta tentatively. It would be easier to put the plate of deliciousness in the microwave and heat it up, but could he stand to have that done? Microwaving a delicacy like pasta in a common fashion? Surely his afternoon snack-could it be considered a snack? If breakfast and lunch was called 'brunch', then would lunch and dinner be 'dunch' or 'linner'?-needed more dignity than that!

No, he'd have to start all over.

Sighing, Italy wistfully scraped the cold pasta off the plate and into the horrible, dark pit that the world had come to know as the trash can. "What a waste of pasta," Italy sighed.

After taking a small moment of silence, Italy scoured his kitchen for his cooking pot and set it on his stove. Searching the pantries for spaghetti, Italy frowned as he groped the empty bottoms. His hand brushed across empty boxes of pasta, boxes that he forgot to throw away after he had boiled the noodles, a couple of times but none spared him any for that day's dunch.

"Ve..." Italy closed the last of the pantry doors and stared at his trash can. "Those must have been the last of my stock...a waste. Germany would scold me for that," Italy smiled to himself. "And Japan would offer me ramen if I don't have pasta. That's so like him,"

Italy glanced at his watch. Perhaps his stomach could hold on just a tad longer if he ran to the market quickly. Yes, in fact, he was able to survive until then.

Before he left, Italy checked the remaining ingredients in case if he needed to replenish his supply. He took note that he was running low on tomatoes (maybe he should ask Romano to go get some from Spain later) and basil.

He also wrote a hasty note for Romano in case if he wondered where he went and stuck it on the refrigerator door with a magnet, right next to the handle so that it couldn't be missed. Of course, normally Italy wouldn't have left a note; he went out so often that there were no worries, but by the time he might get back, it would be lunchtime and Romano wouldn't know that Italy had gone out to buy supplies. If he wasn't informed, then they'd both be buying ingredients and there would be a major surplus since they both liked to buy enough for months to come.

Actually, no, that might be a good thing. Italy halted himself at the doorway and turned his head back towards the kitchen. Then he shook his head and laughed. "Ah, if we both went out to buy food, we'd only be wasting our budget!"

The market wasn't too far from Italy's house. It would be a quick walk of ten minutes, unless there were street vendors randomly posted at random corners or one of those traveling merchants. If Italy was lucky, he'd run into one of those vendors and he'd be able to get home quicker for his pasta.

He didn't.

But that was okay because he was starting to see the crowds of people weaving in and out of each other on the streets, leaning over fresh produce and goods while chatting warmly with each other. Italy smiled at the sight. It made him feel relaxed and warm inside.

"Ciao, Mr. Italy," a cheerful voice called from the cheese stand.

Italy glanced to the side and grinned broadly at the man behind the stand. Italy was a regular customer of the man's cheese and often they'd struck up long conversations that seem to have no end.

"Ciao! Ciao!" Italy greeted, approaching the stand.

The vendor leaned on the side of the stand and cocked his head a little. His slightly worn face was starting to show his age, Italy noticed, yet his bright eyes still showed compassionate youth. Rubbing his prickly chin, the vendor asked, "What brings you here today, Mr. Italy?"

"I ran out of pasta," Italy answered.

The vendor nodded. "I heard that Rosetta's having a sale on fettuccine. Nice price too,"

Italy considered the sale for a few seconds. It had been approximately four days, seven hours, and fifteen minutes since he last had fettuccine. It was four days, seven hours, and _sixteen_ minutes when he politely declined the bit of news. "Romano had that yesterday. I think he might get tired of the same type of pasta if I serve it again today," Italy laughed.

They chatted for a while, discussing current politics and the economy. It was difficult for Italy to talk to his boss about the economy lately because his boss was always so stressed and everytime Italy tried to bring it up, his boss would avoid the conversation, even if he had to change the subject conspicuously. Lately, Italy had headaches here and there, but not as bad as Greece who had been dealing with a cold.

If Italy had leftovers, he'd be sure to go visit Greece and give him the rest in hopes that he'd feel better.

Then they talked about strange things they've heard over the week like how there was a small stampede of bulls running around the streets of Spain (Italy wondered if Spain had to go around and round them up) or the claims of someone finding gold at the end of a rainbow in England (if that was true, England might be bombarded with other countries asking him how it happened and asking if there were chances that it would happen in their house too).

Though one in particular piqued the best of Italy's interest.

"Have you heard about the ancient castle found in Germany?" the vendor asked after the topic about brain implants in monkeys subdued.

"There are a lot of castles in Germany," Italy said.

"Yes, but this was found last week,"

Germany hadn't mentioned a new castle that was recently discovered. Italy inquired on about it.

"It's enormous, according to the reports." the vendor continued on. "And usually people would spend months, maybe years, searching through places like these, trying to find artifacts and hints about the past, yes?"

Italy nodded, intrigued.

"Well, they gave up investigation this morning. Isn't that odd?"

"So fast!" Italy exclaimed. "Only a week, ve?"

The vendor nodded.

Italy and the man bid each other farewell after another hour of talking; the man had to go out and have lunch with his wife and that reminded Italy he still needed to finish his errands.

His watch read 12:26 P.M when he continued on down the street towards Rosetta and her pasta stand. She sold all sorts of noodles and occasionally, she'd give a few packages to Italy and Romano for free.

"Bella! Bella! Ciao!" Italy had greeted her warmly, waving enthusiastically.

"Ciao Italia!" she had greeted back.

And so Italy bought a surplus of pasta from Rosetta, nearly cleaning out the entire stand.

"Do you need any help?" Rosetta asked him.

Italy grinned at her. "No, it's okay. Grazie!"

On the way home, he stopped by another vendor, Matteo, for basil and happily went home.

Romano had yelled at him for being late but Italy didn't mind. He only patted Romano's shoulder and said, "Ve, why don't we cook pasta together?"

Romano sniffed, "Hell yeah we do. Cook _fast. _I'm starving you know,"

* * *

It wasn't until after Italy had dropped off leftovers at Greece's house around three in the afternoon when Italy remembered the castle in Germany. Surely Germany would like to have it investigated; who knew what could be in there and with the struggling economy, maybe there might be treasure.

An adventure!

Italy ran towards Germany's house, careful not to trespass over Switzerland's backyard, and knocked on Germany's door with vigor.

Upon the twentieth knock, the door finally swung open to reveal a disapproving Germany staring back at him with steely blue eyes. "Why are you knocking so loudly?" he asked, somewhat irritated.

"We should go and get Japan and investigate that new castle of yours!" Italy blurted.

Germany blinked. "Since when did I get a new castle?" he asked.

"Um, well, I mean that castle that was just found a week ago. I heard that no one is investigating in that place anymore and I thought that it should be because there might be treasure! It'll be fun, right Germany?"

Germany stared at Italy for a while. Italy, unfazed, just stood there on the front porch, smiling his happy-go-lucky smile. Then Germany sighed and opened the door slightly wider, crossing his arms. "Italy...there's a reason why I've stopped those investigations,"

It didn't seem like it had any effect on Italy. "Why?" he asked.

Germany frowned, thinking. The investigation team had been missing ever since the first day and the others had lost contact with them. The fourth day, rescue teams had scoured the castle but no one was found. Many of their reports, however, had shown that there was something wrong with the atmosphere in the castle, as if there was a dark shadow cloaking the perimeters. It wasn't until they stepped foot off castle grounds that they felt relatively better.

Then again, Germany wasn't one to believe so easily in superstitions. Perhaps the investigation team was still there, surviving off of whatever they could find. Perhaps their radios had drained all their batteries, thus the reason why they were no longer reachable, and maybe they had hidden themselves in some secret room and that was why the rescue teams couldn't locate them.

It was worth a shot. He couldn't let his people who were possibly alive die in a weird place as that castle.

"Never mind, Italy," Germany said, "We'll go tomorrow with Japan, alright?"

Italy bounced lightly on his toes. "Yay! Yay!" he exclaimed, "We're going to have a big adventure, Germany! And the treasure we'll find will be beautiful, ve!"

Germany sighed heavily and placed a sturdy hand on top of Italy to keep him from bouncing. "Fine, fine, just...just stop hopping around. You're shaking off dirt from the soles of your shoes onto my welcome mat,"

Italy gazed up at Germany and smiled. "Sorry, Germany. I'll help you clean it up, okay?"

Germany took his hand off of Italy's head and crossed his arms again. "Alright, I'll get the vacuum,"

* * *

America stared in front of him. He was sure that there was someone sitting on the opposite side of his kitchen table, but he wasn't sure. Was it...a ghost?

"Ahh, no, dude, that's too much!" America cried, blocking his eyes with both of his hands firmly, scooting his chair back.

"A-America? What are you doing?" Canada asked quietly, watching his brother in concern.

America stopped thrashing and cocked his head, peeking from behind his gloved fingers. "Canada, bro? Is that you?"

Canada wasn't sure how to react to that. Either he was annoyed that America had forgotten he was there again or he was relieved to finally get his attention.

Maybe a mix of both.

"America, we were just talking about horror movies and you stopped talking a minute ago," Canada said. "It was like you were in a trance. Did something happen?"

America laughed, lowering his hands from his face after he pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. "Sorry dude, I kinda blanked out. I just remembered this freaky rumor on the internet when we were talking about those scary movies. It was weird,"

"What was the rumor?" Canada asked.

America scooted his chair back up to the table and picked his extra-large soda back up and sipped it noisily. "Mmmmrr, mm," he said through the straw. "Mmmmph _mmmphrr!_"

"I can't understand you at all," Canada sighed.

America lowered his drink, gulped, and said, "I said that there's this castle in Germany, right? Like, a _big_ one, like the ones you'd see in movies,"

Canada nodded. "Continue,"

America placed his drink back down on the table and pounded his right fist into his left hand. "People who had gone in there went missing when they searched the castle. That was a week ago and they're still missing. Sounds like they need a hero, am I right?"

America tilted his head thoughtfully as Canada stared at him. "Man, I wonder if Germany's gonna save 'em. If not, I'll gladly be their foreign, western hero!"

"I'm pretty sure Germany has it covered," Canada said reasonably. "The missing people will show up soon, I bet,"

"Yeah, maybe," America said, somewhat disappointed. He stuffed a couple of fries into his mouth, leaning his head on the table and chewed slowly, eyes lost in a daze.

Canada looked down at Kumajiro and whispered, "Should I offer him my opinion?"

"Who are you?" came the expected question.

"I'm Canada,"

The small polar bear wriggled out of Canada's arms and plopped down on the floor, rubbing its furry little chin thoughtfully. Pointing a paw up at Canada, Kumajiro said, "Say what you like but don't make him do something stupid,"

Canada scratched the back of his head. "Is that possible?"

"Or you could say nothing at all," Kumajiro said.

Canada glanced back at America, who seemed lost in a trance again. "He might go to the castle anyway," Canada sighed.

"But maybe you could go with him if you can't stop him," the bear said pointedly. "Then you can stop him from doing something physically stupid,"

Canada pounded his fist into his hand, a trait he shared with America, and exclaimed in his quiet voice, "Yes, perhaps! I think I can do at least that much! Thank you Kamahiru!"

The polar bear stared at him, but Canada was oblivious to its stare. Knowing America, he'd hop on a plane to Germany and play 'Hero' again.

Minutes passed in silence and America suddenly sat up straight in his seat and declared, "Yes! I'm going to go to Germany's house! If he's not gonna do anything about it, I will because..." He stood up abruptly, jerked his thumb dramatically to himself, and grinned a winning grin at Canada. "_I'm the hero!_"

"Of course," Canada said wearily, though his meaning of 'of course' was different than the meaning America thought it was.

"Yup," America chirped. "And _you_..." America pointed a dramatic finger at Canada, "are my sidekick!"

"Of course,"

They both, again, had different interpretations of the 'of course'.

America laughed and sat back down, reaching for his cell phone that was resting next to his large plate of burgers. "I'm gonna text England so he can back us up. Ooh, and maybe France will like to come. Maybe we can use him to back us up. Japan can come too, and maybe-"

"Let's not invite the entire world, America," Canada interrupted.

America stopped. Then he chuckled, rubbing his chin. "Yeah, you're right. They'll all take my spotlight, wouldn't they? Okay then, I'll ask England and France, Japan's good friends with Germany so I bet he'd already know about it,"

Canada only watched America busily texting away and sighed. Somehow, he had a bad feeling deep down inside.


	2. Eintritt

Japan had no idea what Germany and Italy wanted to do but since they woke so early (it was early in_ their_ time zone, though it was already mid morning in Japan when they called him) to invite him to Germany's house, he couldn't decline.

"Japan, you're completely free today, aren't you?" Germany had asked over the phone.

"Why yes, I have a clear schedule today. Why?"

"Italy and I are going to go somewhere and we want you with us. Please wear comfortable clothes that you wouldn't mind getting a little dusty or dirty."

"Ah...yes, I see," Japan had said slowly. _What are they planning this time? _"I will be there in an hour."

Japan wondered about what the day would bring as he passed by China's house. Caught up in his thoughts, he failed to realize that China was running towards him, dodging pedestrians as he gradually caught up with Japan.

"Japan, aru!" China called, waving as his long sleeve flopped back and forth.

Japan turned around and nodded at China.

China slowed to a stop and sighed at Japan, nudging him playfully in the arm. "You act as if I'm a stranger. We're brothers so relax, aru!" he panted.

Japan was silent as China started to massage his shoulders in surprise. "Aiya...you're so tense..."

"It would help if you ask for permission to touch me beforehand," Japan said slowly.

China threw his hands up and shrugged. "I forgot," he said, "that you don't like people touching you. Oh well. Where are you going?"

"I'm going to Germany's house."

"On foot?"

Japan nodded.

China frowned. "That's a long walk, even for _us_. I'll give you a ride, aru."

Japan smiled at China. "Ah, thank you, but it's fine. I can wa-"

"Méiyǒu, I'll drive you, aru. Although from now on you should surely drive on your own," China said seriously.

"The streets in my house are so crowded," Japan said, "and it's a hassle to get out of my house on car. Also, I'm an island country."

And yet somehow, Italy was able to drive him back home once.

Japan would prefer not remember that experience.

China laughed and patted Japan on the back. "Nonsense. It's crowded here too but I can still make it out. And besides, I haven't paid Germany a visit in a while, so I might as well strengthen relations with him, aru."

"We're going to go somewhere," Japan said uncertainly. "I'm not sure where though."

China cocked his head thoughtfully. "Can I come along? If you and Germany, and I'm sure Italy'll be there, are sneaking out to go on a vacation, I want in, aru!"

Japan frowned and glanced down at his own clothes. They were normal street clothes, unlike the dress shirt or kimono he usually wore, but if they got dirty, he wouldn't mind them. However if they were going on vacation, shouldn't he have packed extra clothes? Germany would have told him too, but still...

China grabbed Japan's wrist and pulled him away, saying how that he had a car waiting somewhere ("I was just going to go test it out, but I can use it to drive you to Germany, aru," China said.).

They maneuvered around people and motorbikes to get to a slightly less compacted street. China pointed ahead of them at a gleaming white BMW Brilliance Automotive, a car that had been created on a joint project between Germany and China.

"Convenient, isn't it, aru?" China laughed, patting the hood of the car tenderly. "It'll take us to Germany and Germany was the one who helped me make this,"

Japan silently admired the car before China opened the car door for him, ushering him in. When he closed the door, he jumped and yelped, "_Aiya!_"

Japan hurriedly glanced out the window and immediately adverted his eyes uncomfortably.

"Russia, aru!" China exclaimed, his face contorting into a mixture of fear and annoyance. "What are you doing here?"

Japan stared at the back of the front seat as Russia explained he was interested in what China was doing. Through the car door, Japan could still make out the sour expression China was using and then the somewhat defensive tone as he said, "I have to take Japan to Germany's so I don't have time to...do whatever I do, aru."

Was Russia planning something again? Japan had always felt suspicious and uncomfortable around Russia, even though recently his suspicions had died down.

"A-alright, you can come, aru." China was saying, defeated.

Japan turned his head to stare at the back of China's head from his seat. China was letting Russia come along?

"Ah, on second thought, China," Japan said when China climbed into the car. Japan's hand rested on the door handle and twitched as Russia climbed in on the other side, right next to him. "I can walk."

"Nonsense," China said stiffly. He glanced at the rear-view mirror and caught Japan's distressed visage. "You're better off in the car than walking alone," China added weakly, adding in a few nervous laughs.

Japan peeked at Russia, who was smiling pleasantly back at him. Suppressing a shudder, Japan leaned against the car door and stared intently outside at the street. Even so, he cold still feel the coldness of Russia's eyes piercing into his skin from behind.

* * *

The new-found castle took hours to get to. Surrounded by lush, towering trees, the terrain proved a challenge to Germany and Italy as they trekked through the forest. The path that had led up to the castle grounds were long gone and they had to forge their own path. Whatever road the investigators had taken was nowhere to be found, but Germany dismissed that fact and reasoned that they could have arrived in helicopters.

"We probably should have done that too, huh?" Italy asked as he scrambled under a fallen tree that seemed to have collapsed long before. Italy had to push away overgrown vines and weeds out of his face in order to see in front of him.

Germany merely stepped up on a few logs beside the enormous obstacle and jumped over, landing with a concise grunt as so to not make too much noise. He still had a nagging suspicion in the forest; the reports seemed accurate so far because Germany _did_ feel a looming presence.

Then again, it could be an illusion he created for himself based off of reports. Over the years, he knew he had a tendency to believe things written on paper than things spread by word. Could it be just because it seemed more official that way? There were things written on paper Germany obviously didn't believe in, like when a cake recipe called for two teaspoons of vanilla when he knew for a fact that he was supposed to use only one.

But a report was a report; things like that made Germany feel like it was true.

"We're almost there, Italy," Germany said, shielding his eyes from the brightness above. The sun was behind the gray clouds but the light clouds illuminated the outside world, causing a whiteness to wash over them rather than a sunny, controlled light.

"How much further?" Italy asked, brushing dirt from his pants.

"Another few miles."

"_Ehhh?_" Italy stared at Germany in disbelief. "But the castle looks so close!"

"That's because it's big," Germany explained.

"It must be super big if it looks closer than a few miles," Italy commented.

"Yeah, I guess so," Germany murmured, staring through the gathering fog near the castle.

It seemed like a lifetime when they finally came across the castle grounds, free from the thickets. Taking a few moments to admire the fine architectural details that still remained despite the prominent weathering.

Germany ran his eyes over the Gothic styled archs above the high windows, the intimidating stone gargoyles that glared down at him with added grotesqueness from their already cracked appearances, the stone pillars that seemed ready to give way if anything bothered them, and the intricately decorated walls that were indented in all the right places between the pillars. Long ago, the castle must have been beautifully colored with a pleasant white or a strong, bold gray. The stones were faded and wan, the flora of the environment had taken over and creeped into the cracks and stretched up towards the tallest of the towers, wrapping itself around the pillars and piers and whatever it could find.

It occurred to Germany that it wasn't a castle made to defend anything. There were no protective walls or any signs of them. There were no ramparts surrounding the area, there were no loopholes found in the magnificent walls of the castle, nor were there galleries where soldiers could walk upon up above.

It must have been built for someone incredibly wealthy. Perhaps Italy was right; maybe they could find things worth selling and the things they could find would bring in quite a bit of money. Maybe with that money, their economy could look forward to a brighter future.

"Let's go in," Germany said, briskly walking ahead to find the main gate.

Italy hastily took a few steps toward Germany to catch up with him and started skipping alongside him. "What about Japan?" Italy asked.

Germany forgot about Japan for a moment. Sheepishly, Germany said, "We'll find the gate first and then wait for him. I hope we can get a signal here in case if something happens."

Italy laughed. "Nothing will happen. Everything will be okay."

* * *

Japan arrived an hour later.

Germany, who had dutifully stood in front of the castle entrance all that time, waved to him when Japan had stepped foot out of the forest. Italy, who had been sleeping by his feet, stirred at his voice. "There you are," Germany called. "We've been waiting for you!"

Japan, slightly panting, called back, "I'm sorry. Things...came up."

"What do you mean by that?"

As if on cue, Japan glanced back behind him as China and Russia emphatically whacked branches away from their faces, stepping out into the clearing.

"That was a long walk," China sighed. "Too bad the car couldn't take us an further, aru. Germany, next time we have to build a car that can drive through anything!"

"What are they doing here?" Germany asked irritably. Through logical thinking, Germany concluded that, by the exasperated look Japan had, bringing China and Russia along was unplanned and by some coincidental means, had came with Japan to the castle. Germany hadn't planned on more people arriving and he didn't have enough supplies for them all.

"I'm sorry," Japan said to Germany, still flushed. "But I couldn't dissuade them. I'll make it up somehow."

Germany waved it away. "Don't worry about it. I just hope things won't get out of hand."

Italy's stirring increased and after a few tentative seconds, he sat up, rubbing his eyes. Squinting in Japan's direction, Italy brightened and called out shamelessly, "Japan!"

His voice echoed eerily.

"Be quiet!" Germany snapped.

"Why?"

"Who knows what might be around here,"

"There's no one around but us,"

"You can't be too sure," Russia piped up.

Germany, Italy, Japan, and China couldn't help but notice a small gleam in his eyes. Italy, Japan, and China adverted their eyes as Germany warily looked him over. "May I ask why you two are here?" he asked China and Russia.

"I have to accompany my little brother, aru." China said, taking hold of Japan's arm.

"Well you've accompanied him this far so you're free to go home now," Germany said sternly.

China's face fell. "You're not letting me stay? That castle looks dangerous. I can't go home knowing he's going to be here."

"Japan's big enough to be on his own, you know," Germany said.

China sniffed. "Yes, but a big brother's got to do what a big brother's got to do, right Japan?"

Pause.

"Japan?"

"Yes,"

"What was _that?_"

"What was what?"

"That pause!"

Pause. "What pause?"

"_That _pause!"

"I did not pause."

China stared at Japan's emotionless face as Germany sent an inquisitive glance at Russia. However, Russia merely smiled.

"The more the merrier, right?" Italy asked Germany, tugging on his sleeve.

Germany struggled to find the words to tell Italy what it might mean for them but decided not to. "Right. Okay," Germany said when he realized he let too much time pass. "Let's just go in, shall we?"

Since the castle was just a castle for the wealthy to reside in, there were no heavy iron gates to get by or any traps to look out for. The entrance was no big challenge; the huge doors that stood twenty feet top to bottom were heavily dented on the outside and were stuck to place for a while but after a good jostle the doors opened wide.

At once, a zephyr of dusty air whooshed towards them. The doors groaned and moaned and their worn hinges squeaked wretchedly. The darkness of the foyer overwhelmed them at first but the light they let in helped their eyes adjust quickly.

The foyer was colossal, about the size of half a football field. The cobblestone floor was filthy with wispy, white webs strewn across and in the crevices, considerable chunks and slabs of the stone ceiling that had fallen and shattered, and several pieces of furniture that laid pitifully as if the castle had been ransacked vigorously.

Even the statues and full sets of armor lined up at the walls showed their antiquity. The cracks and wear on the statues seemed so frail that they might crumble upon slight contact and the armored knights had several dents and rust flawing the overall appearance.

The darkness was broken in some places where the foggy tall windows just beyond the staircases allowed some of the brightness from the outside world in. It gave the small light patches on the ground a light blue-white hue on the stone floor but gave the dull red carpet a brighter red and its pale gold accents an even paler gold.

"It feels so empty," China whispered, yet his whisper was loud enough to disturb the chilling tranquility in the air.

"It's horribly messy," Germany said to himself, straying from the group to look at an overturned armchair. He reached out to feel along the polished wood before he took it and set it upright again. The emerald green fabric of the chair was ripped in the middle of the seat and there was an odd red stain on the back.

"Filthy," Germany sighed. "Yet it could still be worth a bit. In the condition it's in, it might not sell for as much as it could have if it was in perfect shape. Maybe a museum would like it,"

"Germany, in a castle this big, there's bound to be hundreds, maybe thousands of things that you can sell," Italy said excitedly, his voice echoing off the walls.

"You're planning on selling the things you find here?" Japan asked concerned. "Shouldn't you leave a few things be to preserve its history?"

"Yes, of course," Germany answered. He took a look around, frowning. _Although something tells me that we shouldn't take anything at all. Ah, maybe those strange reports are getting to me after all..._

"Hey, let's go up the stairs and see what's up there!" Italy said, tugging at Japan's sleeve, pointing up the right staircase.

"We haven't even explored the first floor," Germany pointed out. "We must be thorough with our search. I must find the investigators anyway."

Aware of the questioning looks from Japan, China, and Russia, Germany explained how they had gone missing soon after the discovery of the castle. The fact that the castle was newly found and that there were already people missing caused China to grab a hold of Japan's arm, dragging him towards the entrance.

"Alright, well we're going to go home now," China grunted, attempting to pull Japan back outside. "Tell us if you made it out alive, aru."

"Ch-China, we mustn't leave them with a job this big," Japan stated, tugging his arm back. "It probably isn't even that dangerous. As long as we're on our guard, I think we'll be fine."

"Yeah, China!" Italy piped up. He pranced between the two and threw his arms around their shoulders. "This is a big adventure! Who knows what will happen and who knows what we'll find."

Germany half-listened to the conversation going on behind him as he worked to clear the rubble from one of the passageways. At first, it was simple to remove the fallen wood beams from the entrance to another wing but it became harder when boulders showed up.

"Alright, let's go the other way," Germany said decisively when the rocks showed no sign of being moved.

"Which way do we go now?" China asked, scanning the foyer. "There are three other ways we can go from here that doesn't lead up the stairs, aru."

Germany analyzed the three other halls that were, to his relief, clear of rubble and destruction. Peering down the dark hall, he and the others suppressed a small chill that even Russia had felt. And as if their ears had enhanced drastically compared to a mere few minutes ago, it seemed as if they were able to hear chairs scraping across the floor on the other side of the long hall.

"I do not trust this place," Germany murmured, waving the beam of his flashlight to and from the sides of the hall.

Italy glanced down at the darkness of the hall and then back up at Germany. "It's very dark, Germany," he said in a weak voice.

Germany found himself rather annoyed by the fact that Italy was feeling scared already since he was the one who suggested they go and venture through the castle. "Be quiet, Italy," Germany said. "Just use your flashlight if it's too dark for you."

Throwing another look down the hall, Germany heard Japan say, "The other halls are pitch black as well."

"Did you go check it out?" Germany asked. "I didn't hear you leave the group."

"It's an observation I made from standing here. I never left,"

After a small moment of consideration, Germany shook off his uneasiness and took a step forward. "Right, well we're not doing anything productive at all by just idling around. Come on. Let's go."

Tentatively, Italy clung onto Japan's arm and Japan led him calmly down the hall, following Germany's light. China quickly followed Japan's footsteps so that he would not have to linger too long in the back with Russia, who was smiling pleasantly as always.

The doors were locked as Germany tried them. He examined the doorknobs and wondered if there were keys for them. If that was the case, then they'd have to find the keys if they wanted to have any lucky finding anything useful or finding Germany's missing investigation team.

However, the further they ventured, the more prone they were to hear whispers in their ears... as if someone was right beside them.

At times, they picked at their ears in attempt to drive the annoying mystery noise away but it dawned on them that getting rid of the whispers was not possible. Not at the moment.

"Do you all hear that as well?" Russia asked softly.

"I hear nothing," Germany said in denial.

"Ve..." Italy looked at Japan, who returned his gaze with uncertainty.

* * *

"Whoa, this place is bigger than I thought. Awesome!"

Canada's stomach dropped when he saw what an overwhelming aura the castle had. Gloomy and dark, he started to wonder if it was too late to change America's mind. Could he scare him away?

"A-America? What if there are ghosts in there? Wouldn't that be horrible?"

America didn't seem to hear him. He was busying himself with his belongings, digging around for his flashlight and whatever else he had packed into his bulging backpack.

There was a small sense of relief that did Canada justice, however. He was glad he left Kumujira back home. Though the polar bear had protested and pawed at Canada's face for several minutes, Komujiro finally agreed to stay back.

"Are we really going to go in there?" England asked under his breath, slipping his own backpack on. "I can't believe you talked me into this, America, you-"

An erotic laugh punctured England's sentence. "But this would be a great adventure, non? And there might be all sorts of beautiful furniture and paintings waiting to be discovered," France said.

England pointed an accusing finger at France and demanded, "And why did you have to bring _this_ frog along?"

America held a hand out to silence him. Gazing up to the top of the castle, America narrowed his eyes and murmured, "If the doors don't open in the front, we can scale to the top."

"Shouldn't we at least go see if the front doors are open before planning to climb?" Canada asked America.

America noticed him and glanced behind his shoulder. "Oh, well I was kinda thinking we'd make an epic entrance, you know?"

"What nonsense," England scowled. "Let's get going if we want to make it back for dinner," he added, leading the way.

America opened his mouth to say something but France and Canada were already following England to the other side so there was no use saying anything at all. He hurried to catch up with them because the moment they were several strides away, leaving America alone to his thoughts, he felt an unusual cloak of uneasiness. Perhaps that was an understatement, the uneasiness.

However, when he approached them, falling into their pace, he felt the feeling go away and he was normal again.

Frowning, America peeked behind him to see if it was just his surroundings that made him so nervous. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

America stopped abruptly as a demonic roar echoed in the distance. His vision deteriorated slightly, the colors snapping into a blue hue for a split second before things suddenly reverted back when the roar died away into the wind.

Canada noticed America's stricken expression and stopped. "America? What's wrong?"

Silence. America's eyes were wide, jaw slightly agape. His skin had paled considerably but he gave a small laugh. "You didn't hear that, did you?"

"Hear what?"

England slowed down and turned towards them as he walked. "Oi! Don't stop you two! We're on a tight schedule!"

"We have a schedule?" France asked.

"Well we should," England murmured.

But Canada's eyes were fixed on America, whose heartbeat pounded in his ribcage. It thundered in his ears as he gazed around, bewildered. What was that? What an awful sound. It was the kind of sound one would cower under something because of its intensity.

America looked down at his hands, which were shaking slightly. Wiggling his fingers, he started to walk again, giving Canada a smile. "It was nothing, bro. I totally tricked you, haha! You should have seen your face!"

"America, we don't have the time to joke around," England called from the front.

"Aw, England, but where's the fun if you don't?" France asked.

America laughed again, but his mind was in a turmoil. And out of the corner of his eyes, he realized that Canada's expression was rather solemn.


	3. Monstrum

At the end of the hall there was a large wide room that resembled an old fashioned ballroom. Germany aimed the flashlight beam upwards at the chandelier that sparkled as the light hit it. Its beauty was grand and he thought it would be a shame to take it down and sell it. Perhaps he could restore the castle instead. Or turn it into a tourist attraction. There would be some profit in that as well and that could possibly help his economy.

"Even though it's day outside and there are tall windows here," China whispered, "it's still dark in here. Don't you find that odd, aru?"

It was true. The ballroom had windows that spanned across the entire west side and though there was some sunlight coming in, the windows were so old that the surface was tinted with something unknown to them that made the light dimmer.

"Doesn't matter," Germany sighed. "It is bright enough to see."

While Germany and Japan examined and talked about the chandelier and the possibility of restoring it, Italy, China, and Russia were looking around the room for anything of interest or clues that would lead to the discovery of Germany's investigation team.

Russia grunted as he pulled heavy wooden tables and chairs apart from each other. They were all recklessly piled onto each other at the corner of the room, creating a mountain of wood and nails. Some nails were poking out from the wood and Russia took care that he did not accidentally prick his fingers on them.

Eventually, when he cleared the corner and created a massive sea of wood around him, he was disappointed to find nothing in particular in the corner. He was sure that there was a better reason to stack the chairs and tables in that corner than just to move them out of the way.

A small gleam caught his eyes on the floor and he crouched down to examine it. Stuck in between the cracks of the wall was a small silver key layered with rust. Still, it was a key and keys opened new passages.

It was no easy feat, picking the key up. It was stuck in the cracks and Russia had to pick up a long rusty nail to get it out.

The key was freed within a matter of minutes.

"Hey guys, check this out," Russia called.

He heard the others approach and he turned to show them his discovery.

"Ooh, a key!" Italy exclaimed. "Is it a key to a treasure chest?"

"Perhaps it is a key to one of the doors in the hall," Japan said.

"Let's try it out then, aru," China said.

Russia led them back to the hall and when they came across the first door to their left, a startling roar caused the castle to rumble dangerously. Debris fell from the ceiling in small chunks but when the roar faded and the rumbling stopped, the ceiling looked as if it was still able to hold itself together.

"What was _that?_" Italy cried, hands covering his ears.

Germany coughed from the dust the debris caused. Fanning away the excess fog of dirt and who knows what else in the air, he said, "I don't know, but it's dangerous in this castle," He frowned and the idea of making the castle a tourist attraction was starting to look like a bad idea.

"We shouldn't stay here for too long," Japan said.

"No, we shouldn't, aru," China sighed.

Germany gritted his teeth in irritation. Reaching behind him, he tugged at Italy's collar and scolded him for getting them into this mess.

"Ve, I'm sorry, Germany!" Italy cried. Germany heard this all the time and was used to it but Italy never learned, not really. He could only sigh and release Italy's collar. He'd have to make him run extra laps later.

"Open the door," China said to Russia. "Can you open it?"

Russia tried to fit the key into the keyhole but it would not turn. "It's not-" he started.

Italy let out a cry and pointed towards the ballroom. Their alarmed gazes followed his finger.

There, just a mere few steps from them, was a grotesque figure which highly resembled a gruesomely deformed human being. Its clothes was faded and ripped, stained with dark, dry blood. Dirt was smeared all over what little flesh it had left and the stump where the right hand should have been at was still dripping with blood.

Its face, if one could call it that, barely had flesh left and they could see the innards and the muscles, if they could even call them muscles as well. The skin still attached, barely, just barely, to the body was horribly singed and it reeked of burned...something. Something burned and something dead...a foul mixture of smells that would normally provoke regurgitation but they were frozen in fear.

Where its eyes should be, there was nothing.

It did not seem to see them, however, for how could it? But even so, its appearance itself was enough to strike a panicky sensation to the countries. Countries were countries, but they were still 'human' and thus human nature still applied. Their fear of that..._thing_ caused them their heartbeat to race and they were left breathing heavily.

In the silence, they could hear that _thing_ limping in the ballroom. In the privacy of their own heads they heard their blood being pounded through their entire body that seemed slightly paralyzed. It wasn't until Russia broke out of the trance that the others started to regain their sanity.

"What on earth..." Germany said hoarsely.

His voice was louder than they wanted and soon enough they heard the limping footsteps return slowly.

"We need to get out of here," Japan whispered urgently.

"Back to the foyer, everyone!" China hissed, making a grab for Japan's arm.

The five quickly ran down the hall and Germany was in conflict on whether or not he should turn his flashlight off or leave it on. The _thing_ didn't seem to have eyes, so they should be alright with the lights, right?

"_Damn!_" Germany cursed as they reached the end of the hall. The rumbling from before didn't cave in their end of the hall but the exit to the foyer had caved in completely, leaving them only boulders and fallen wooden beams.

"We need to find a door that the key opens before it gets to us," Russia said firmly, gripping the key even tighter.

But the idea of finding one before the _thing _could get them seemed like a horrible idea; having a single glance at it would only ignite nightmares but having to see it once more would only add more gas to the fire.

But Russia was already trying to fit the key into the first door without success and bounded to the next one. Germany caught up with him and aided him by giving Russia the light necessary to work with.

On the fourth door, the footsteps were within their range of hearing and their anxiety piqued. Another thought occurred to them when the fourth door did not open. What if the key did not open any of the doors?

There was a low growl somewhere and a frightening thing happened. The moment something growled was the moment their visions blurred. It was only for a brief second but their vision had never done that, not in their several hundred years or thousand or four thousand (perhaps five?) to China.

Italy's hands shook violently and China held his forehead tightly, face slightly contracted. "Aiya...my head is pounding,"

Germany's breathing was irregular, to his surprise and annoyance. Why was he so scared? It was probably a hallucination. Was it possible to hallucinate sounds? Yes, he was sure everything was a mere illusion.

But as his eyes fell upon the other four, trying to find a way to recover, he knew that they all were seeing the same thing, hearing the same thing...what was going on?

"The door," Japan gasped. "Please, try to find a door that will open!"

The sixth door they came across opened as the key turned. The relief that flooded through them was unspeakably uplifting and the five rushed inside, closing the door quietly and quickly.

The room was a regular bedroom with a window at the back and underneath the window was a desk. However, there were books scattered over the floor and on the large bed, done but left untouched for several years. The drawers were all pulled out and messily arranged in a fashion that the clothes in them were draped all over the place. Parts of the floorboards were ripped open and there was a wardrobe in the far corner of the room that was closed.

Japan grabbed the chair from the desk and propped it against the door, heaving a sigh.

"Ve..." Italy sat down on the bed and stared down at the floor.

China went over to the desk and peered out the window, his face falling. "It's so dark, aru..."

"This is a dangerous place, alright," Germany said to himself. "The castle can cave in, there are...things out there, and my investigation team have been here for a week. How could they have stand this?"

A grisly hand broke through the wood of the door, evoking yelps and quickly drawn breaths from the five. The thing was out there and its bony hand was groping the air beside Japan's head.

The door was surely going to be torn apart soon if they did not do something.

Germany searched the room quickly. The chair was not going to hold against the thing so he quickly snatch it up by its back and ran to the window. They were going to get out of there somehow, and outside was the best way to escape.

He slammed the chair into the glass but the chair itself fell apart into dust and scattered in the wind.

But he felt no draft.

"What? _What?_" Germany yelled, bewildered.

By now the door was ripped from the frame and he didn't dare turn around to look at it. Italy whimpered and scrambled beneath the bed. Hiding...yes, they must hide. If the thing couldn't see, there was no use, but that didn't mean _they_ couldn't see and odd things happened when they came across disturbing sights or sounds.

Japan and China joined Italy underneath the bed and Russia motioned for Germany to the wardrobe. "Hide here. I'll deal with it, da?"

Germany shook his head. "I'll deal with it with you."

Russia nodded and slipped his hand into his coat, pulling out his iconic pipe. For once, Germany was glad Russia was by his side with the bloodied pipe. Perhaps having him joined by Japan earlier today wasn't so bad after all as long as they could ward the things off.

The problem was the thing's image. And smell, now that they had to get really close to it. Its' stench was still revolting to the point they did not dare breathe.

A strong sense of anger mixed with fear overwhelmed Germany that he could not think at all. He only did what his body told him to do and that was to pick up the closest weapon available and use it to his advantage.

Russia kept the thing busy for a while but Germany noticed that he wasn't hitting as hard as he could. Why wasn't he tearing the thing to pieces like he would normally?

Germany's eyes were fixed on the thing, even though by now his eyes betrayed him by changing all the colors into a strange red hue. It made things hard to distinguish and he wasn't sure if he was walking right, now that he thought about it.

He stumbled to the left, and then the right, images spinning in a dizzying vertigo. It became difficult to move his body and he moved cumbersomely. His head, clouded with confusion, pounded and he heard whispers again, only they were harsher.

Germany fell to his knees and toppled sideways, eyes bloodshot. He was gasping for air now, his hands wrapped around his neck as he struggled to breathe.

Russia, too, stumbled for a bit but there was something dark on his clothes. Germany's vision was still strange and red and he could not make out what the darkness on Russia's clothes was.

He was immobilized for a few seconds longer before his vision returned to normal and he was able to take one large gulp of air. All sentient thoughts returned to him and he was able to pick himself off the ground quickly.

Russia stumbled back towards the desk, clutching his arm while laughing nervously. "You...you...what are you? Haha...hahaha..." His pipe had fallen from his grasp and his head was cocked to the left, staring aimlessly at the thing with his bottom lip quivering.

Germany lunged for Russia's pipe and brought full strength into his arms to whack the thing away. However, he felt much of his strength sapped. He felt...more human.

When the thing started to target him, Germany gripped the pipe with both hands and clenched his teeth. With the energy he had left, he aimed for the deformed head-if he could call it that- and hit it off the thing's shoulders.

The 'head' flew to the wall with a gruesome _splat_ and fell dully to the floor, leaving a trail of red behind. The body tumbled to the side and it moved no more.

* * *

"See, what did I tell you? The front door is open," England said with an air of pride.

"Wow, it's enormous..." America whistled, stepping into the foyer.

France tilted his head a little, frowning. "It's filthy here," he pouted. "I shouldn't have worn my best adventuring outfit..."

"Adventuring requires for you to get dirty, you frog," England scolded.

France laughed erotically again. "Oh England, you're lecturing moi on getting dirty?"

England snapped, "Of course not! Honestly, you make conversations incredibly awkward. Canada, how did you keep your innocence after you were raised by _him?_" England asked Canada with a sigh.

Canada, surprised England noticed him, laughed quietly. "You came along and took me from him before he could take my innocence away,"

England blinked. "Oh, yes, I remember now. My mistake."

Poking around for a few minutes, America found nothing interesting and declared they should venture on. "Up the stairs we go," he said in a sing-song voice.

The second floor was blocked off on the right, where the stairs had split, so they were forced to backtrack and take the left side. The hall of the left half of the stairs was dark and they couldn't make out ten feet in front of them. America had stopped at the sight of the darkness but England only continued on, feeling along the walls.

"Dude, what if you trip and fall?" America asked nervously. "Come back into the light! It's too dangerous."

"I'll be careful, America," England said casually. Already America could not make his figure out.

"It is what he says," France said thoughtfully, although he gave the wall a small look of uncertainty. "But I don't want to touch anything."

All of a sudden, England sharply inhaled and cursed under his breath. America, France, and Canada stared down the hall in the direction of his slight profanity. "Are you alright?" Canada asked.

"Ah, headache. It's horrible...my head is pounding and...is my vision going bad?" England's voice said slowly. Pause. Then he said in a whisper, "Everything is moving..."

"What?" America's jaw dropped. Was England seeing things too? Was it because he strayed too far from the group?

"I may be seeing things. No need to worry. It's just that...it's as if everything I see is a reflection in the water and then a pebble falls into it, making ripples. I am seeing images moving as if there is a ripple in the water," England said shortly.

"Where are you?" France asked.

"I've only taken at least a dozen steps. I'm not too far, but damn is it pitch black in here..."

France glanced at America as if to say, 'Well? What are you waiting for? Go in there and rescue him like the hero you claim to be!'

America gave France the, 'Are you kidding me? I'll die in there!' look, to which France raised an eyebrow.

Before America could throw back a silent facial expression to clarify his meaning, the demonic roar echoed around again, causing a rough tremor to shake the castle. A sickening crack brought his attention towards the darkness and a curt curse flew in the air before the crack became a crash and a large cloud of dust blasted at them, followed by small chunks of wood.

The tremor stopped as soon as the roar died away again.

"England!" Canada cried as America coughed, shielding his eyes from the dust.

"What, did you fall through the floor?" France called, raising his arm to protect his eyes.

Silence.

"England," France called again, "where are you?"

When the dust settled down, the hall was slightly lighter due to the little light the bottom floor gave off. They heard England cough from downstairs and they knew what had happened.

"England..." France said quietly. "And I thought America was the one who had to go on a diet..."

America, snapping out of his alarm, gave France a bewildered look. "What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Oh shut it you bloody-" England croaked coughs interrupted his sentence. Taking a few seconds to clear his throat, he called up, "I only stepped on a fragile floorboard. It snapped when I stepped on it and it made the rest of the floor cave in."

"All of the floor?" America asked.

"No, you wanker," England said impatiently, "only part of the floor. You thought that the _entire_ floor fell through?"

American coughed nervously. "Can't you get back up?"

There was a small pause before England said shortly, "I'll see what I can do. Stay there."

"But of course," France said with a grin. He leaned on the wall with his arms crossed and tossed his head back in order to move strands of his hair out of his way.

* * *

England rubbed the back of his neck tentatively. He winced as his fingers brushed by a gash, oozing with red, crimson blood. Withdrawing his fingers, England scoured his pockets for bandaids and a clean cloth. Once he was satisfied that he patched up his small wound, he left the pile of rubble and searched the room he fell into.

Nothing caught his interest, save for a few antique chairs that he had not seen in a couple of hundred years. He had given them a thorough examination out of curiosity and left them alone, not wanting to keep everyone waiting.

The door was locked when he tried it and he groaned in frustration. He'd have to kick the door down or something.

However, he didn't do that, not just yet. He circled around the room again and noticed how week the northern wall looked. He applied a little pressure to the bricks and jumped when they fell out of place and into the other side.

"This castle is ready to give way," England murmured to himself as he carefully and strategically removed the bricks until he made a hole wide enough for him to fit through.

The room he stepped into was large, like a ballroom. The first thing he noticed was the darkness from the outside. It gave him an ominous chill. Then a stack of chairs and tables thrown around in a corner. He made a small face, wondering how much damage the chairs and tables could have and how it was such a waste of fine craftsmanship.

"Oh well," he whispered to himself, for if he spoke his voice would echo and make him feel lonely.

England passed by the entrance as he walked around the perimeters, though the moment he took a peek down the hall, he heard several scuffling noises. He stopped in his tracks, staring at the darkness of the corridor. Something seemed to be breathing in that direction. Could it be America and the others? Were they playing around again?

"Oh, so they think the can scare me, is that it?" England scowled to himself and at that moment, he heard footsteps rushing away from him.

"I told them to stay put," he scowled, making his way through the dark corridor. "Damn, it's dark in here..."

England ran into several walls and tripped over many boulders and bricks that were lying around, possibly due to the earthquake/roar thing that had happened a few minutes ago. Tired of wandering aimlessly around in the dark, he groaned and leaned on what he thought was the wall.

He yelped as his hand, that was resting on the 'wall', fell through the feeble wooden door. Stuck, England moved his hand around in hopes of loosening it. The splintery wood made it no easy feat and small beads of blood started to roll down his skin. He was not able to see it, but he could feel it.

There were more noises on the other side of the room and he yelled, "Oi! Open the door America! It's not funny! I could get an infection! Oi, America! France! Canada, at least you'd have the sense to help me!"

When nothing happened, he kicked the door out of impatience and was surprised at how easy the door came off the hinges. His hand was now free, but it did not worry him anymore.

He stared ahead of him at two disfigured things, or monsters they seemed more like. For some odd reason, his vision acted as if it had a pulse for a split second, elongating his surroundings before reverting back to normal. Whatever the things were, their mere image sent a wild alarm to set off in his body and his first instinct would be to run or attack. His body would not respond, since this thoughts had flown elsewhere and refused to return to him.

It wasn't until the big one lunged at him that he started to realize he was in danger and started to fend off its unusually long arm. It was only the right arm that was longer; the left was normal- if he could call it normal.

England grimaced with each blow but somehow, for some reason, he seemed to be able to fend them off just fine. If only he could do something about the smell and their appearance. He still had a panicky feeling on the inside, and his breathing became irregular the longer he looked at them.

It was like he was losing his sanity the longer he was there with them.

"No...no, no, no," England croaked hoarsely. "What are you? What do you want? Stay _away!_"

With a final kick, he made the big one stumble back and fall. The things didn't seem to be too bright since it just sat there, growling and staring its single, large eye at him.

England panted, staring hard at the floorboards. Out of the corner of his eye, the right arm of the thing he just fought was twitching on the ground beside him.

He momentarily forgot that there was another, and the other one was quick. It swept down to grab the right arm and England, who was too fazed to know what was going on, received a heavy blunt blow to the head and he stumbled to the wall, losing consciousness.

"No..." he muttered to himself as his eyesight darkened. "I can't...no..."

His eyes closed as his slumped down the wall in a heap.

* * *

Prussia yawned and cast a casual glance around the living room. Still no sign of Germany. Didn't he say that he'd call Prussia if they found something interesting in that one castle? If they didn't find anything of value, then they'd be back by now. And if they did, then he'd receive a call by now.

Unless they forgot.

"Who can ever forget the awesome Prussia?" Prussia smirked to himself. Then his smirk faded when he remembered the world didn't see him as a country anymore. Just a memory from the past.

"The memory from the past is still here, though," Prussia muttered. He glanced at the coffee table and frowned. He bent over to neatly arrange the remote controls to the television and stereos so that they were all facing the same direction and were lined up by length.

"That's better," he murmured.

The doorbell rang once, and then again, and then once more accompanied by several furious knocks.

"Hey! Open up you potato-eating bastard!" a voice called from the outside.

Prussia groaned. Annoyed, he jogged to the front door, yanked it open to reveal Romano, and said in his calmest tone, "For the last time, I. Am. Awesome. I'm not a bastard, though I might have been before, but I. Am. _Awesome._"

Romano, taken aback, cleared his throat nervously and averted his eyes. "Well er, I wasn't talking about you..."

Prussia crossed his arms and leaned on the door frame. "Alright then. What is it? What do you want?"

"Where's my brother? He never told me where he put the new stock of pasta and I'm hungry, dammit."

"I'd like to know where my brother is also," Prussia admitted. Then his red eyes flashed and he smirked. "Well, why don't we go look for them?"

Romano blinked.

"I'll take that as a yes. Okay, let's go,"

"Wait, wha-"

But Prussia had grabbed his coat from the coat hanger and grabbed the house key before passing an astounded Romano, descending the steps. To his surprise and amusement, Spain was waiting at the end of the driveway.

"Kesesese," Prussia laughed. "You're here too, Spain?"

"Romano wouldn't stop bothering me about Italy so I brought him here to see if you knew, haha," Spain said pleasantly, scratching the back of his head. "I knew that Germany was off on a trip but I was wondering if you can call him,"

"Well we're gonna go see them right now. Come along with us," Prussia said. "The more the better,"

* * *

Korea bit his lips. China wasn't home and Japan wasn't home either. Taiwan was also bothered by that fact that Japan was not home. She didn't really mind too much about what would happen to China but Japan's disappearance was upsetting.

Hong Kong mentioned that China had driven off somewhere with two other people, but Hong Kong couldn't make out who the other two were when they passed by his place. Macao didn't answer them until they were served some food and drinks but even after their snack, Macao didn't see China all day.

And so Korea and Taiwan dragged the two to visit Vietnam and they inquired her if they knew where China and Japan were. She had pondered this for a while as she finished her tea but had no recollection of seeing China driving by earlier that day, and so, to her discomfort, Korea and Taiwan dragged her along to Thailand's house.

"Ahaha, I haven't seen him drive by today, ana," Thailand said. "Sorry,"

"Hmm, Aniki _has_ to be here somewhere," Korea said slowly.

"Are you sure he's gone?" Macao asked.

"Yeah, he didn't leave a note on his door, da-ze,"

"Did Japan leave a note?" Hong Kong asked.

Korea stared at him. Taiwan narrowed her eyes at him. "Did you forget to check?" she asked incredulously. "Japan may be home all along and you've worried me for nothing!"

And of course, on Japan's front door there was a note explaining how he had gone to Germany for a little while.

"To Germany, da-ze!" Korea declared.

"What? Why? Why must we all go with you?" Vietnam asked.

Korea grinned at her. "It's not like we all gather up together too often nowadays, Vietnam. Let's go out on a family vacation!"

"But, it's been like, two weeks since we last went out together," Hong Kong pointed out irritably. "Can't I go back home and, like, watch movies instead? Today is supposed to be my break day."

"And we _are_ having a break. In Germany, da-ze," Korea explained. "Come on, I'll treat to whatever Japan and Aniki are having over there."

"And how do you know China's with him, ana?" Thailand asked.

Korea laughed at his siblings. "I don't, da-ze!"


	4. Allein

Germany and Russia stared at the head of the thing, oozing out dark red blood. They adverted their eyes after a few mere seconds; they couldn't bring themselves to look at it any longer. The image, already carved into their memory, made them panic, even though they knew it could no longer hurt them.

And yet why did they feel their fear eating away at their sanity?

Japan and China poked their heads out from underneath the bed. Both of them looked shaky and Japan had started gasping for air. He slowly clasped a shaky hand over his mouth in order to quiet himself but he couldn't.

China placed his hands on Japan's shoulders but his eyes darted from one place to another in fear. "Is it dead, aru?" he whispered.

Germany dropped Russia's pipe and backed up to the desk in front of the window. Using the desk for support, Germany gulped and nodded silently.

Italy crawled out from under the bed and started to cry. "I want to go home, Germany. I don't like this. I don't want an adventure..." he sniffed.

Germany nodded slowly at Italy. "Go home, Italy. Get away from this place. Everyone too, go away. Don't come back..."

"And you?" Japan asked urgently. "What about you? You're not going to stay and find your team, are you?"

"I have to," Germany said quietly. "They can't stay here...they can't _stay_ in a place like this..."

Italy's bottom lip quivered. Eyes welling up, he said, "I'm not leaving unless Germany leaves."

There was no motivation in Germany to argue against Italy, and the others didn't look like they were leaving. He gave them a glare and demanded why they wanted to stay. "If you haven't noticed, we are more like humans in this place! We don't seem to be like countries anymore where we will heal over time. We could probably die in here and who knows what will happen if that happens."

"We _do_ want to leave," Russia said quietly. "But is it even possible to?"

Another silence. Perhaps the state they were in prevented their thoughts from flowing smoothly; they chose to stay. Even if they did maintain their logical reasoning, they soon found out that they couldn't leave even if they chose to.

* * *

"Locked?" China asked in horror as he yanked at the door handles just to test them out. The group had found another way past the rubble that had blocked the entrance they went through. When they circled around, finding an alternate route by going back to the ballroom, they found a newly collapsed wall and a hole in the ceiling that they climbed up and out of and into the foyer again.

"It can't be," Germany said, stopping abruptly in his tracks. China stepped away as Germany marched to the doors with the intent of kicking them down. With a grunt, he planted the sole of his combat boots into the wall with a firm kick but it resulted with a throbbing foot and an echoing _thud_ that made the castle seem even more ominous.

"Let me," Russia said, pushing Germany back with his free arm while the other gripped the iron pipe. The group watched with growing fear as Russia hacked away at the wood but it was futile. The wood didn't seem like wood anymore. The door was made of a material that resembled wood in appearance, touch, and even smell, but whatever the door was made of, that was not wood. Russia didn't make a dent on it. The pipe was useless. It would not break the doors open.

"We're stuck in here?" Italy cried.

"There's no way we can go back out there," Japan said to himself. He scanned the foyer carefully and his eyes settled on the high windows behind the staircases. "We can't seem to break windows either," he murmured. "Anything we use to break glass will dissipate."

"Maybe...maybe it was an illusion, aru," China said. "Germany didn't pick up a chair and tried to break the window. The chair didn't exist...we were seeing things-"

"So then why can I actually feel the chair?" Germany demanded. Flexing his fingers, he scowled, "I had it in my hands...It was solid, that's for sure. Tell him, Japan...you picked it up first when you propped it against the door. It was _real_. There was no way it was an illusion."

"The chair was real," Japan said uncertainly. "But...the glass did not break and the chair...what happened?"

"I...I don't know..." Germany held a hand up to his face and inspected it. What was real and what wasn't? Could he believe his memories? Could he trust his senses? Or could he trust neither of them?

A distant rumble in the background startled them and their heads started pounding again; some were a little short on breath. "Ah...my headache is back," China moaned.

"Let's go somewhere else," Italy suggested timidly. "I don't like it out here in the open."

The five recollected themselves and slowly climbed the stairs. When they found the right side of the stairs blocked, they looked back at the left where they had escaped from the hole.

"Hell no," Germany said at once, remembering how difficult it was to see in that corridor. "Who knows what will attack in that darkness. Let's go back downstairs."

"And risk another cave in?" Japan asked.

"Do you want to go in _there_, aru?" China asked, pointing.

Japan looked back down and sighed. "I see. Yes, let's go back down then."

* * *

Prussia frowned when he saw the castle. He had expected it to be bigger. And awesomer. It was 'okay', if he really had to judge it by its appearance, but there was something off about it.

"What do you think, Spain?" he asked, rubbing his chin. "Don't you think it looks...unawesome?"

Spain's usual smile had faded long before they approached the castle. It had been replaced by a confused frown, as if he couldn't figure out why he was upset. His green eyes scanned the castle's exterior and scratched his head gingerly. "It's pretty creepy," he said truthfully.

"We don't have to go in there, do we?" Romano asked in a trembling voice. Cowering behind Spain, he glared at Prussia and added, "Can't we just wait for them to get back? I'm not going in that place."

Prussia grinned. "Aw, come on, Italy number two!" He bent over towards Romano, hands placed haughtily on his hips, and smirked at him, "What's a little wittle castle gonna do? Besides, West and everyone else is in there. It'll be fine. Come on. Let's find the front door."

* * *

"How do you know they're here?" Taiwan asked Korea uncertainly, trying to keep up with his long strides.

"Japan left coordinates on his kitchen table. It was easy, da-ze." Korea said casually, bending over-hanging tree branches out of his way. He released the branches before realizing that they would be able to hit the others behind him and glanced behind his back, only to see that the branches flipped back and forth over their heads, missing them by inches.

Sometimes, Korea wondered why the rest of his siblings were so damn short. Of course, Macao was the only exception and _maybe_ Korea could include Thailand as being decently tall, but the others were just plain short.

"Do you bust into his house often?" Macao asked, bringing Korea out of his thoughts.

"Huh? Whose house, da-ze?"

Macao rose an eyebrow. "Japan's," he replied.

"Oh, yeah, why?"

Macao shared a smile with Thailand. "Just wondering."

Korea shot the two a mock sour expression before casting a quick look ahead of him. "Hey! Hurry up, I can almost see the castle!"

Hong Kong and Vietnam exchanged weary expressions. "All I see is fog," Vietnam called, voice echoing. Grimacing, she added in a quieter voice, "And it's best to stay quiet. It doesn't feel safe."

"Huh? Yelling doesn't do any harm, da-ze," Korea said, grinning at her. "In fact, yelling is a WONDERFUL way to EXPRESS yourself with FEELING and EMOTION!" he shouted into the air much to the group's dismay.

"Oh, Korea," Taiwan chided. She sighed and glanced around at their surroundings uncertainly. "Are you sure we're going the right way?"

Korea stopped the group and scanned the forest clearing for higher ground. Setting his eyes on a fallen tree, he hurried to the splintery trunk and grabbed onto the overgrown vines growing over the fallen tree trunk. Pulling himself up as he climbed, he was able to get high enough to spot a distant building even through the fog.

Pointing, he called, "Over there! Wow, I didn't know they like to vacation in creepy old castles."

"I don't think they're, like, vacationing," Hong Kong said.

"Well what are they doing then, da-ze?"

"How am I supposed to, like, know? You dragged us here in the first place."

Korea laughed and climbed back down to the ground, rejoining his siblings. "Good question. Why don't we go find out the, da-ze?"

Taiwan frowned. "How much further then?"

"Uh...I don't know." Korea's face fell when they sighed heavily, as if they were about to give up. "You guys don't sound very excited," he added.

"Well, some of us are pretty old, ana," Thailand laughed, stretching his arms.

"You're not _that_ old," Korea smiled. "What's a few thousand years or so? I bet when I get to be a few thousand years old, I'll still be in tip top shape!"

"I'd like to see that," Vietnam said with a tiny hint of amusement.

"Challenge accepted, da-ze," Korea declared. Clearing his throat, he added, "Ahh...well, actually, that will take a long time. A few thousand years you know. In the meantime, let's go on the vacation already, da-ze."

"It's quite a vacation so far," Macao laughed nervously.

Hong Kong raised his hand, waiting for Korea's acknowledgment. "So like, can I go home after today? I don't want to spend the rest of the week here. It has a bad aura. No feng shui or anything."

* * *

England's head pounded viciously, threatening to knock him out again even though he had just woke up. His throat parched and his eyesight fuzzy with a strange purplish hue, England attempted to sit up but he had lost his sense of what was up and down. He had thought for a moment, he _was_ sitting up but it eventually dawned on him that he was lying flat on the floor, staring silently at the bloodied ceiling.

The blood was new; it dripped onto his face, beads of blood rolling down his cheek and neck, seeping into his collar. _Whose blood is that? _he wondered, but even the voice in his head sounded feeble. _Could it be...is this my blood? _

His fingers twitched. He found that after a few minutes, he was able to move them a little. Another few minutes passed and he found the energy to raised his right arm and wipe the trail of blood from his cheek. Shifting to the side so that the blood on the ceiling wouldn't drip onto him, England tried to think back on what had happened.

The memories, suddenly fresh in his brain, started to give England an immense, cold feeling that sent him scooting back towards the wall, hugging himself with his eyes firmly shut tight. What horrible images that had burned into his mind. He prayed he never had to run into things like..._those things_ again.

England grimaced and gritted his teeth, clapping his hands over his ears as another loud roar echoed somewhere. It was unusual for him to act like so, but he had an intense urge to hide. His teeth started chattering and beads of sweat broke out, mingling with the beads of blood.

His vision became incredibly blurry and this time, his surroundings gave a red glow. It wasn't before long that England grew so panicky that he writhed on the floor, desperate to find a source of comfort.

He found none.


	5. Mensch

America, France, and Canada started to get restless. England had been gone for a while now. How much longer would they have to wait?

France sighed and unfolded his arms. "I'm tired. Let's go find him and move on."

America gave France a bewildered double take. "Are you sure?" he asked. "Can't we just stick around a little bit longer? I mean, it's pretty uh...cozy up here."

France and Canada exchanged looks. The air chilled them and the dust still floating in the air was still a constant annoyance to their noses. To prove this point, France turned away from the brothers and sneezed loudly. The sound echoed in the foyer until it faded slowly, softly.

American and Canada suppressed their shudders. "Can you be a little more quiet?" Canada asked France.

France sniffed sulkily and said, "Thank you for blessing me with silence."

"Bless you," America and Canada murmured simultaneously.

France held a haughty hand up to their faces, turning his head away from them dramatically. "_No_. It is _too _late now," he said crossly.

America sighed heavily and Canada laughed nervously. The two faltered when the castle rumbled trembled again, but it was slight. A few slabs of stone fell from the ceiling and the stairs but when all was still again, they were returned to the quiet peace.

"Let's go look for him," Canada coughed, "I have a feeling that something might happen to him."

It took the combined effort of France and Canada to drag America down the stairs, leaving the little light that managed to shine in through the foggy windows. America had started out protesting with nervous chuckles but the moment they locked arms with him without the slightest sign of letting go, he panicked. Flailing his legs around and straining his neck back up towards the light, he cried, "No! No! No! Don't take me down there! It's sooooo dark! You have no idea what the dark can do to me!"

"America, calm yourself," Canada said soothingly, "You've been in the dark plenty of times."

"Yeah but this kind of dark is evil, I tell you! Just stop and listen!" America demanded frantically.

France and Canada ceased their movements and the three scanned the foyer, holding their breaths. The demeanor of the foyer somehow intimidated them; they couldn't bear to stay silent in fear of what they possible _could_ hear. It was better, they thought to themselves, to know nothing than to know something in a situation like this.

"Let's just...let's keep going," France said weakly.

"Uh..." America bit his bottom lip, shooting a glance towards his brother.

Canada met his gaze for a moment and showed America a small, comforting (at least, he hoped) smile. "I expect you to be strong, you know," he said to him, "like the hero you are, right?"

America's deep frown softened, eventually forming a thin line. He took several deep breaths, eyes glued to the ground. The tension in his shoulders went away and he looked to the side at Canada. "Thanks, bro," he said.

Canada gave America a ghost of a smile. "That's what brothers are for."

The two North American brothers directed their attention to France, who sniffed loudly. "Waahh, I remember when a lot of people treated me as their big brother..." He brightened and, while pointing at himself, added eagerly, "You two don't think you could refer to me as your big-"

"No," America said at once. Canada merely smiled and shook his head.

"Oh, cruel world!" France cried, burying his head into America's shoulder. "To live in a place where no one looks up to me as their older brother...take my life now! I bear my chest to you, oh menacing castle in the depths of the German wilderness!"

America's lips twitched into a small, wearisome smile. "Have you been taking acting lessons lately?"

France's bottom lip quivered. "No! Well, oui, but to have no one as my little brother-oh non, the mere thought of that just makes me want to die!"

"France," Canada scolded lightly, "Italy still calls you big brother, if you've forgotten. And don't say such a thing as dying so lightly. Especially in a place like this," he added with an air of discomfort.

The three reluctantly tip-toed down the stairs, continuing their descent into the darkness.

* * *

Since the Germany and the others were back downstairs, they weren't sure where to go now. The hall they had encountered the monster was blocked off but they were able to go back through that hole they had found. Not wanting to explore into new territory, they reluctantly returned to the drawing room in order to see if the thing was really gone.

Just to be sure.

"I don't want to look at it," Italy whimpered, clutching Japan's arm.

"Close your eyes then," Germany breathed as they gathered outside the drawing room. None of them poked their heads in through the now empty door frame. Though the room was brighter than before, they still had an uneasy sensation resting at the pit of their stomachs.

"You first, Germany, aru," China laughed nervously.

Germany straightened his back with dignity. There was no way he was going to let some silly dead monster get the best of him. He had seen plenty of bad things in his life as a country; so what if that monster was unusually frightening to him? So what if it drove him mad? It was only temporary. There was no real harm. At least, not at first.

As long as he could keep his composure, he should be able to be okay. So why did he feel so scared?

Germany peered slowly past the door frame, towards the spot where he last saw the monster's head by the wall. He expected a wild shudder to run through his spine but instead, his jaw dropped and his eyes widened. "_England?_"

"England?" Japan asked, stunned.

"Huh? What is England doing here?" Russia asked, poking his head in.

Germany ran into the room and gritted his teeth at the sight of a thrashing young man. England looked sickly pale compared to the bright red blood that stained his face and neck. His outstretched fingers clawed at his messy, matted blonde hair in desperation as he gasped for air, eyes widening with panic and shock.

"Calm yourself!" Germany said firmly, crouching down by him. He held England's shoulders down so that his actions would cease and it helped. England blinked rapidly and stared up at Germany, lips parted as he seemed to struggle for words. It was as if he just realized he was no longer alone anymore.

"G-Germany?" England whispered hoarsely. He gave off a shaky laugh and stared at his bloodied hands. "Ahaha...Oh God...please tell me I'm not dreaming...I am not seeing things, am I? Germany...you're really there, aren't you? Please? Tell me you're here. _Tell me_."

"I'm here, I'm here," Germany said quickly as the others crowded around them. "What happened to you?"

England's mouth twitched. His eyes softened and his irregular breathing gradually returned to a steady pace. "Ah...so you really are here..."

"Yes, yes, I'm here," Germany said, "We're all here. But what are _you_ doing here?"

England took several moments to recollect himself. All signs of madness vanished and he flushed, gingerly massaging his forehead. "Me? Why...America brought me here."

"America? He's here too?" Japan asked urgently. Incredulous looks

Germany silenced Japan and said sternly, "England, have you ran into a monster of some sort?"

England's body jolted and his breathing suddenly hastened. Germany held his shoulders down again as China and Italy helped England sit up.

"T-Thank you...ugh, I don't know what just happened...the images of theirs faces...no, they have no faces. It was just a gruesome mess of meat and muscle thrown together..." England muttered bitterly. His thick eyebrow twitched and he suppressed a wild shudder. "Horrible...how horrible..."

"You ran into it too?" Italy asked weakly.

"Too?" England repeated, furrowing his brows. "Don't tell me...you've seen them?"

"Yeah, we've seen it, aru," China said.

"I see..." England stared at his bloodied hands. Flexing his fingers slowly, he added, "Why do you say 'it'?"

"What else can it be called?" Germany asked grimly.

"No, that's...that's not what I meant," England shook his head. "There were two of them. 'It' should be 'they'."

There was a dead silence the moment England's words faded away. They. _They, _meaning more than one. As if his brain had failed to process the new information, Germany whispered, "What did you say?"

The corners of England's mouth twitched. A few beads of blood dripped from the corners and he raised a hand to wipe it from his deathly pale chin. "I said what I said. You mean to tell me you only met one?"

Italy made a noise that sounded like a mix between a whimper and a groan. Japan clenched his hands and said quietly, "We've only seen one. Although...there might have been more but it is uncertain."

"Mein Gott...what the hell kind of a place _is_ this?" Germany hissed to himself, helping England up.

"Oi...we need to find America and the others and get out," England said hoarsely.

Germany's face tensed as the others behind him grimaced. "Others? You mean...you mean America isn't here alone?" Germany asked gravely.

"Who else is here, aru?" China asked.

"France and Canada."

Italy made a small whimper. "Big Brother France is here too?"

"We must find them," Japan said urgently.

England, holding onto Germany's arm to steady himself, added, "Exactly, so we can get out of here quickly."

"We can't," Russia said.

England forced himself to look Russia in the eye and questioned nervously, "What? But...why? What do you mean by _that?_"

Italy, Japan, and China cringed to themselves as Germany gritted his teeth. England, noticing the four's sudden movements, panicked and demanded Russia to explain. "By 'can't', do you mean that we can absolutely not get out of here? As if it's physically impossible to even if we tried? That kind of 'can't'? Or do you mean that we shouldn't? There's a difference between 'can't' and 'shouldn't' and don't tell me that you guys 'wouldn't', because whose will is to stay around here?"

"We...simply can't," Russia said tonelessly, shaking his head. "It's futile."

England stared at the Russian man for what seemed to be the longest time. Seconds ticked away in silence. Everyone watched England's face as it slowly started to reveal his raw emotion. "I don't believe you," England whispered. However, a growing dread had already spread on his face. If he was trying to hide his panic, he was failing at it. He reached out to clutch onto Germany's sleeve and shook him. "Tell me!" England demanded. "Tell me this isn't bloody true! _Germany!_"

His pleas ceased and vanished into the silence once more. China and Japan exchanged looks and Italy stared at the ground. Russia kept his gaze on England and Germany shrugged England's weakening grip off of him.

"Dammit," England breathed as his hand plopped down beside him. His eyes traveled to stare blankly in front of him. They were dull and lifeless; England had already lost hope. "Dammit...we can't escape. Ahaha...hahahaha!" England leaned forward and held his hand over his mouth to muffle his laugh.

The others watched, stomachs dropping. They could see that England was nearly within insanity's grasp.

"Oh well," England chuckled. "We can't die anyway, so it'll be fine. Who cares if we end up hurt? That's what has always happened in the past...so what if there's something out there? So what? Death is nothing to us..."

"No," China said quietly.

England didn't seem to hear him. "As long as we can fend for ourselves, we'll be fine, right? There's got to be a bright side to this, haha..."

"England," Italy said urgently, "it's not like that anymore!"

"Anymore...anymore? Anymore what?" England asked tonelessly. His lifeless eyes studied Italy for a moment before he added, "Who knows? The possibilities are endless. What will happen to us? Is there really no exit? Surely there is...surely..."

"Unless we're killed," Russia said.

"Killed? Ha!" England spat. "Ha! As nations, how can we be killed?"

"In this place," Japan said sternly, "we are not countries."

This concept made England falter. Signs of false confidence that slight insanity gave him wore off and his eyes, which were no longer dull, flashed in alarm. "W-what?"

Germany sighed. The fact that he could feel the majority of his strength dissipate in that castle was real. He was able to do superhuman feats through sheer muscle. Of course, as a country, his muscles grew by not only working out, but by centuries of a harsh life as a nation. That power he gained throughout the years was gone. He felt powerless. He felt weak.

He was no longer a 'country'. Officially, he was still Germany, and impressive European nation and power. But where was his power? What is he without it? In that castle, his own being was not like a country, but like a human.

They could all very well die.


End file.
